Norrmalmstorg robbery
{{Short description|1973 bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Norrmalmstorg robbery
| partof =
| image = Former Kreditbanken Norrmalmstorg Stockholm Sweden.jpg
| caption = Front view of the former Kreditbanken building at Norrmalmstorg in 2005
| location = Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm, Sweden
| date = 23–28 August 1973
| time =
| timezone =
| type = Bank robbery, hostage taking
| fatalities =
| injuries = 2
| perps = Jan-Erik Olsson and Clark Olofsson
| weapons = Various
}}
The Norrmalmstorg robbery was a bank robbery and hostage crisis that occurred at the Norrmalmstorg Square in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 1973 and was the first crime in Sweden to be covered by live television. It is best known as the origin of the term Stockholm syndrome.
Jan-Erik Olsson was a convicted criminal who had disappeared while on furlough from prison and then held up the Kreditbanken bank, taking four hostages in the process. During the negotiations that followed, Swedish Minister of Justice Lennart Geijer allowed Olsson's former cellmate and friend Clark Olofsson to be brought from prison to the bank. Although Olofsson was a long-time career criminal, it was deemed unlikely that he was in league with Olsson.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WgtzDQAAQBAJ&q=Lennart+Geijer+%26+Norrmalmstorg&pg=PT38 |title = Dramat på Norrmalmstorg: 23 till 28 augusti 1973|isbn = 978-9100169350|last1 = Svensson|first1 = Per|date = 2016| publisher=Albert Bonniers Förlag }} In the popular account, the hostages then bonded with their captors and refused to cooperate with police. However, it has also been argued that the hostages were simply distrustful of the police given the latter's willingness to risk the hostages' safety.{{Cite book|last=Hill|first=Jess|title=See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse|publisher=Black Inc.|year=2019|isbn=978-1760641405|oclc=1246246503|location=Melbourne}} Police finally mounted a tear-gas attack five days into the crisis, and the robbers surrendered.
Olsson was sentenced to 10 years for the robbery, and Olofsson was ultimately acquitted. The counter-intuitive actions of the hostages led to a great deal of academic and public interest in the case, including a 2003 Swedish television film titled Norrmalmstorg, a 2018 Canadian film titled Stockholm and a 2022 Swedish Netflix television series Clark.{{Cite web|url=https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/swedish-crime-drama-series-clark-on-netflix-everything-we-know-so-far|title=Swedish Crime-Drama Series 'Clark' on Netflix: Everything We Know So Far|date=14 December 2021|website=Netflix}}
Events
Jan-Erik Olsson was on leave from prison on August 23, 1973, when he went into Kreditbanken on Norrmalmstorg, Stockholm and attempted to rob it.{{cite encyclopedia |title = Norrmalmstorgsdramat|encyclopedia = Nationalencyklopedin|language = sv|url = http://www.ne.se/norrmalmstorgsdramat|accessdate = 30 October 2010|url-access=subscription}} Swedish police were notified shortly after and arrived on the scene. One officer, Ingemar Warpefeldt, suffered injuries to his hand after Olsson opened fire,{{Cite news|url = http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/9905/02/clark.html|title = Rånarens krav: släpp Clark fri|last = Karlsson|first = Jan|date = 2 May 1999|work = Aftonbladet|access-date = 16 June 2015|language = sv|trans-title = The robbers demand: set Clark free|page = 17}} while another was ordered to sit in a chair and sing a song. Olsson then took four bank employees hostage: Birgitta Lundblad, Elisabeth Oldgren, Kristin Enmark, and Sven Säfström. He demanded his friend Clark Olofsson be brought there,{{cite news |title=Stockholm Police Lock Gunman, Others in a Vault |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/26/archives/stockholm-police-lock-gunman-others-in-a-vault.html |work=The New York Times |issue=42218|volume=122 |date=26 August 1973}} along with three million Swedish kronor, two guns, bulletproof vests, helmets and a Ford Mustang.Serena, Katie. [https://allthatsinteresting.com/stockholm-syndrome Stockholm Syndrome And The Strange Bank Robbery Behind It] All That’s Interesting, February 19, 2018, updated May 1, 2019.
Olsson was initially misidentified as Kaj Hansson,{{cite news |title=Swedish Robber Holds Hostages 2d Day |work=The New York Times |date=24 August 1973|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/25/archives/swedish-robber-holds-hostages-2d-day.html }} another escaped prisoner, and someone who specialized in bank robberies.{{cite magazine |last= Lang|first= Daniel|date= November 18, 1974|title= The Bank Drama|magazine= The New Yorker|url= https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/11/25/the-bank-drama|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221023020818/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/11/25/the-bank-drama|archive-date= Oct 23, 2022}} Olsson was a repeat offender who had committed several armed robberies and acts of violence, the first when he was 16.{{Cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/tv/nyheter/40-ar-sedan-dramat-vid-norrmalmstorg/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701071332/http://www.expressen.se/tv/nyheter/inrikes/40-ar-sedan-dramat-vid-norrmalmstorg/|url-status=dead|title=40 år sedan dramat vid Norrmalmstorg|archivedate=July 1, 2015|website=Expressen}}
The government gave permission for Olofsson to be brought as a communication link with the police negotiators. The hostage Kristin Enmark said that she felt safe with Olsson and Olofsson but feared that the police might escalate the situation by using violent methods.{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/stockholm-syndrome|title=The Birth of "Stockholm Syndrome," 40 Years Ago – History in the Headlines|access-date=14 August 2016}} Olsson and Olofsson barricaded the inner main vault in which they kept the hostages. Negotiators agreed that they could have a car to escape but would not allow them to take hostages with them if they tried to leave.{{cite web |url=http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar.pdf |title=Nils Bejerot: Strategin i sexdagarskriget vid Norrmalmstorg |accessdate=2019-08-05 |archive-date=2016-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418131500/http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar.pdf |url-status=dead }}
Olsson called Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and said that he would kill the hostages and backed up his threat by grabbing one of them in a stranglehold. She was heard screaming as he hung up. The next day, the hostage Kristin Enmark called Palme and said that she was very displeased with his attitude and asked him to let the robbers and the hostages leave.{{cite web|website= Sveriges Radio|language=sv |title= Lyssna på Kristin Enmark prata med Olof Palme under gisslandramat|trans-title= Listen to Kristin Enmark talk to Olof Palme during the hostage drama|date= 5 Oct 2015|url= https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/6270898}}
Olofsson walked around the vault and sang Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly". On August 26, the police drilled a hole into the main vault from the apartment above and took a widely circulated photograph of the hostages with Olofsson.https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/11/25/the-bank-drama Olsson fired his weapon into the hole on two occasions and wounded a police officer in the hand and face.
Olsson had fired his weapon and threatened to kill the hostages if any gas attack was attempted.{{cite web|url=https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=1602&artikel=5622207|title=40 år sedan Norrmalmstorgsdramat – Avgörande ögonblick|website=Sveriges Radio|language=sv|access-date=2019-06-07}} Nonetheless, on August 28 police used tear gas, and Olsson and Olofsson surrendered after an hour. None of the hostages sustained permanent injuries.{{cite news |last1=Kamm |first1=Henry |title=Stockholm Police Seize 2 in Vault, Free 4 Hostages |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/08/29/archives/stockholm-police-seize-2-in-vault-free-4-hostages-3-women-leave.html |work=The New York Times |issue=42221|volume=122 |date=29 August 1973}}
Aftermath
Both Olsson and Olofsson were convicted, and Olofsson was sentenced to an extended prison term for the robbery. He claimed, however, that he had not helped Olsson but had only tried to save the hostages by keeping the situation calm. He was later acquitted in the Svea Court of Appeal and served only the remainder of his prior sentence. He went on to meet the hostage Kristin Enmark several times, and their families became friends. He also committed several more crimes.{{cite news |url=http://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/0005/21/clark.html |newspaper=Aftonbladet |title=Exklusiv intervju med Clark Olofsson |first=Suzanne |last=Kordon |date=21 May 2000 |accessdate=21 July 2008 |language=sv |archive-date=7 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107195412/https://wwwc.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/0005/21/clark.html |url-status=live}}
Olsson was sentenced to 10 years in prison.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldcrunch.com/default/forty-years-ago-a-swedish-bank-robber-gave-us-quot-stockholm-syndrome-quot-/stockholm-syndrome-jan-erik-olsson-hostage-hostages/c0s13206/ |website=Worldcrunch|title=Forty Years Ago, A Swedish Bank Robber Gave Us "Stockholm Syndrome"|accessdate=2013-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011004222/http://www.worldcrunch.com/default/forty-years-ago-a-swedish-bank-robber-gave-us-quot-stockholm-syndrome-quot-/stockholm-syndrome-jan-erik-olsson-hostage-hostages/c0s13206/ |archive-date=2014-10-11}} He received many admiring letters from women who found him attractive. He later got engaged to a woman who was not, despite what some state, one of the former hostages.{{cite magazine |last=Annin |first=Peter |date=8 July 1985 |title=Hostages: Living in The Aftermath |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |page=34 |quote=Two women even became engaged to two of the hostage takers.}}{{Cite news |date=2013-08-21 |title=What is Stockholm syndrome? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22447726 |access-date=2025-02-11 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} After his release, he is alleged to have committed further crimes. After having been on the run from Swedish authorities for ten years for alleged financial crimes, he turned himself in to police in 2006, only to be told that the charges were no longer being actively pursued.{{cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/kvallsposten/janne-olsson-anmalde-sig-sjalv/|title=Janne Olsson anmälde sig själv {{!}} Kvällsposten|website=Expressen|language=sv|access-date=2019-06-07}}
The hostages sympathised{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} with their captors, which has led to academic interest in the matter. The Swedish term {{lang|sv|Norrmalmstorgssyndromet}} (lit. "the Norrmalmstorg syndrome"), later known as Stockholm syndrome, was coined by the criminologist Nils Bejerot.{{cite web|url=https://www.ne.se/uppslagsverk/encyklopedi/l%C3%A5ng/nils-bejerot|title=Nils Bejerot – Uppslagsverk – NE.se|website=www.ne.se|access-date=2019-06-07}} The hostages, although they were threatened by Olsson, never became violent toward the police or toward each other.
In 1996, Jan-Erik Olsson moved to northeastern Thailand with his wife and son,{{Cite news|url = http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/34810/inhuman-beast-finds-his-peace|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100323115623/http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/34810/inhuman-beast-finds-his-peace|archive-date = March 23, 2010|url-status=dead|work=Bangkok Post|title ='Inhuman beast' finds his peace |date =21 March 2010 }} and moved back to Sweden in 2013. Olsson's autobiography Stockholms-syndromet was published in Sweden in 2009.
In popular culture
The 2003 television film {{Interlanguage link|Norrmalmstorg (film)|lt=Norrmalmstorg|sv}}, directed by Håkan Lindhé, is loosely based on the events.{{cite news |title=Norrmalmstorgsdramat blir riktigt spännande tv |first=Jeanette |last=Gentele |url=http://www.svd.se/kultur/scen/norrmalmstorgsdramat-blir-riktigt-spannande-tv_107001.svd |newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet |date=1 September 2003 |accessdate=16 June 2013|language=sv}} A fictionalized version of the robbery is told in Stockholm, a 2018 Canadian film directed by Robert Budreau.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2018/04/stockholm-ethan-hawke-noomi-rapace-tribeca-interview-news-1202371080/|title=Ethan Hawke & Noomi Rapace Learn True Meaning Of 'Stockholm' Syndrome – Tribeca Studio|last=Grobar|first=Matt|date=2018-04-19|website=Deadline|language=en|access-date=2019-02-27}}
The podcast Criminal spoke with Olofsson about the Norrmalmstorg robbery in the episode "Hostage".{{Cite web|title=Hostage|url=https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-113-hostage-04-26-2019/|date=April 26, 2019|website=Criminal}}
In 2022, Netflix produced a six-episode series named Clark, directed by Jonas Åkerlund and starring Bill Skarsgård as Clark Olofsson.
See also
{{Portal|Banks}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.damninteresting.com/sympathy-for-the-devil Police photo of hostages and captor of Norrmalmstorg robbery]
- [http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar_eng.htm Nils Bejerot: The six day war in Stockholm, New Scientist, 1974] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505070303/http://www.nilsbejerot.se/sexdagar_eng.htm |date=2008-05-05 }}
{{coord|59.3332|18.0740|type:landmark_region:SE|display=title}}
Category:1973 crimes in Sweden
Category:Hostage taking in Sweden
Category:August 1973 in Europe
Category:Organized crime events in Sweden
Category:Controversies in Sweden